


Mockingbird

by Lapinporokoira



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Trauma, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mutants, One Shot, Starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 01:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10865787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapinporokoira/pseuds/Lapinporokoira
Summary: Deep in the sewers of New York, a family huddle in fear.





	Mockingbird

There were sirens in the distance. Thick and heavy in their urgency. Ringing of threat and menace in every chime. Hamato Yoshi held tight his sons, hoping to dim out the very sound with his comforting touch. When the sirens rang it meant death for their kind and it made them tremble. 

Yoshi and his family huddled in the recess of a small drainage pipe underneath the city and in the heart of the sewer system. He hoped the stench of the place and the gushing of seeping sewage water would hide their presence. It made sense to endure it's putrescence then to risk exposure in the upper part of the city. Of course there was the other fear of exposing his sons to diseases that bred in such an environment. But that was a risk far preferable to what fate would befall them if discovered. 

Off in the distance, a roar overlaid the sounds of the sirens that caused his sons to jump and then to cling tighter to their father. Each young boy whimpered as they huddled close to their parent. Tears streaming down their gaunt and dirty faces. Eyes wide and terrified. The smallest began to openly cry. His whimpers increasing into open crying. Yoshi cooed in an attempt to calm his children. Their noises likely to attract unwanted attention but his low voice did little to allay their fear. 

Yoshi did not want to cover their mouths to quieten them. Memories of two years ago, of Tang Shen using such a method on Miwa stilled his action. He could not bear the idea of suffocating his own child as Tang Shen had done with their daughter. His beloved wife couldn't live with it and he knew such a burden would be beyond him also. So instead he sang quietly to the frightened toddlers. A sweet Lullaby Tang Shen had also sung to them when they were babies.   
He could still remember all the words of Yurikago no uta and as his voice wreathed about his children they slowly quietened their voices and leaned more easily into their father. The siren in the distance was soon forgotten. 

At some point Yoshi had drifted off to sleep. He awoke slowly and cautiously. A habit picked up from constant hiding. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the sewers around him. Taking in the rusty metal of pipe work and the tops of tiny heads. The warm bodies of his children still pressed against him, but rather then cling they leaned with the gentle rise and fall of sleeping children. Unfortunately he could still hear the sirens under the sound of running water and gentle breathing, letting him know he had not rested long. They were still looking for him and his family it seemed. 

Yoshi felt a faint hope that their pursuers were tracking in the wrong direction. He looked down on his children and felt both affection and concern. He adored his four little boys but he could see in their tiny faces that running and hiding had taken a toll on their bodies. What scraps of food they had managed to scrounge these last few months were clearly not enough for four growing boys. Yoshi himself was barely more then skin and bone. Having devoted all their resources to keep his boys alive. He wished for a better life for all of them. A better life that included their mother and older sister. It was a fruitless wish yet he wanted and hoped for it anyway.

As Yoshi gently stroked the top of his children's heads a splash caught his ear in the distance. His hand froze above his youngest as his whole body tensed on high alert. He dared not move even as tired eyes awoke as if in reaction to his mood. He shushed very very quietly and four pairs of tired eyes widened in terror. The brief respite his children had, fading away to a living nightmare. Once again they pressed close. Sleep quickly forgotten in their father's urgency. There was another splash. Closer. The eldest struck a hand to his mouth to stifle a gasp. The other three boys, their voices silenced by pressed faces to their fathers tattered clothes. They waited in fearful anticipation. 

The urge to run was strong inside Yoshi as more splashes followed. Footsteps in shallow water. Clearly something was down here with them. Shakes tore through the smaller members of the family at the realisation. One boy, usually the bravest of the four, drew blood as he bit his lip. His nearest brother squeezed his eyes tightly shut beneath his bangs. Too afraid to even look. The splashes drew closer and with them, Yoshi heard the breathing of something large. A sound broken by snorts of a nose scenting for prey. It was close. So close in fact that they could hear the clack clack of a too large body scraping the sewer walls. Yoshi begged the Old Gods that the stench that surrounded them was enough to hide their own very human scents. 

A shadow passed at the entrance of their hiding spot. It was large. Blocking the entirety of the small entrance. From it's origin was emitted a growl. Part animal part tinny as if metallic. Yoshi felt the the hair on his arms stand on end. That sound had given him many nightmares as a child. It was the rumbling of the Keimusho-chō. The elite of the police force. Hand picked for their ruthlessness and willingness to get their hands bloodied in defence of the city's inhabitants. Such was their devotion to the cause they willingly accepted alterations to their bodies in order to improve their proficiency. Yoshi had seen three in his lifetime. Nightmarish creatures more robot then Mutant. His fear spiked, his hands holding fast to his beloved boys. Fearing the reach of a claw to snatch them from his arms. The shadow loomed. 

Every second felt like an hour as Yoshi held his breath. His heart rate spiking in terror. But there was no metal claw to rip the flesh from their bones. Instead the shadow receded and Yoshi counted his heart beats as the clacking creature ventured off further into the sewage system. Each grating sound a little lighter, a little fainter, until there was no sound at all. The sirens had also stopped. Yet Yoshi dared no relax. Too much experience in the past told him not to take anything at face value. His sons shivered as it got colder, one sniffled a runny nose but still Yoshi waited. It was perhaps two hours before he allowed himself to relax. Allowed his muscles to loosen and his heart to subside to it's comfortable tune. The Keimusho-chō was unlikely to linger for that amount of time. Either it had lost their scent or else someone else had caused the alarms to sound and they had merely been caught in the middle of it's hunt. In either case, Yoshi deemed it safe for now. 

Yoshi looked to his sons. They were still awake, still scared but their eyes were tiring. He kissed each child on the head in comfort. To let them know they were loved, protected, safe for now. Most importantly they were still alive. That's what mattered. But as Yoshi allowed some time to respite he was reminded at the poor health of his children. He could feel their ribs beneath their tattered clothing. Hear their empty stomachs. It was a sharp reminder that things could not remain as they were. The city was just too dangerous now. 

The presence of the Keimusho-chō had been increasing. The sound of sirens too frequent and the usual places that Yoshi went to in search of food had become slim pickings. He would need to take greater risks and go to more exposed areas to get food for his family. It was only a matter of time before he was spotted and taken away whilst his children would be left to die slow deaths without him. This latest incident was the last straw. 

Yoshi had spent his entire life beneath the buildings of New York. It would feel strange to leave it's urban setting but he had no choice. The city had never been intended for humans and as humanity made themselves at home, the mutant citizens had grown increasingly anxious to rid themselves of such vermin. There would be a point where nowhere was safe. The unknown of outside of the city was preferable. 

Yoshi slowly extracted himself from his boys. Wincing as they began to murmur upset at the loss of contact. He held a finger to his mouth and shushed them gently. The oldest nodded reluctantly before taking the hand of his youngest sibling whilst the other two huddled together in their misery. Yoshi felt satisfied they would not make too much noise. Fearful with every movement he carefully pulled himself out of their little hole. Keeping his feet light as he touched down into the water. He held his breath at the little splash and waited. There was no growl or running footsteps. He released his breath. Before gathering his children he looked into the depths of the sewer tunnels seeing nothing but concrete walls and pipes in either direction. It was now or never. 

Yoshi waved a hand back in the hole and his children followed his lead, being just as careful as little feet found foul smelling water. Four thin little faces looked up at their father in trusting attention. Yoshi smiled comfortingly at his boys and four grubby, tired, sickly faces smiled back. Barely five years old and having faced far too much for any child and yet still able to pull such beautiful innocent smiles for their father. Yoshi would do anything to keep them that way. Anything. Mutants be damned. Humans had as much right as they did to live. His children were proof. Yoshi would keep them safe no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea I had was reversing Humans and Mutants. And of course I decided to make the turtles and Splinter all human.


End file.
